The present invention relates to a new recording technique that allows a standard recordable CD-ROM drive to appear to, and be accessed by, a user in the same manner as a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk or a floppy disk storage media.
A computer's operating system updates information stored on a hard drive or floppy by continuously rewriting portions of the disk. Recordable CD can not be directly interfaced with the operating system because they are WORM (Write Once Read Many) devices. This means that once data is written on the CD disc, it cannot be changed or modified.
The current technique which is used to write to a recordable CDs involves mastering software which has the following drawbacks:
1) It incorporates a file interface that is unfamiliar to the user. PA1 2) The copying process is generally accomplished through track-at-once or disc-at-once recording. This means the user must take great care to pre-plan the copying and dedicate storage resources (the source disk(s)) ahead of time. PA1 3) The user cannot access data being stored on the disc until the track-at-once or disc-at-once recording is completed. PA1 4) These recording techniques are very susceptible to data under run. This means that dedicated high speed data sources are needed. PA1 5) Other mastering techniques may support incremental writing but the data on these discs can only be read by the mastering software. They cannot be used or accessed by the computer operating system or other applications. PA1 1) An interface appearance which is familiar to the user makes it easy to write or read files, PA1 2) The technique makes it possible to copy one or more files in an arbitrary manner, PA1 3) Data can be immediately read back without having to conclude recording, PA1 4) Data under run problems are completely eliminated, PA1 5) The technique is compatible with any speed data source, PA1 6) It is possible to open, view, or print files directly from the CD disk using the same applications which would normally be used with a magnetic disk storage system.
Thus there is a need for a technique which allows the CDROM, whether blank or partially written, to appear to a user exactly as would any other storage media, such as a hard disk.